collection P59 - Papers of Rt. Hon. Charles William Bury

Charles William Bury inherited the Charleville estate when he was a mere 6 months old. His father, John Bury (1735-64), drowned four months after inheriting Charleville from his maternal uncle, Charles Moore (1712-64), earl of Charleville (of the 1st creation). The estate was several thousand hectares in size and included the town of Tullamore. In 1785, Bury reached the age of 21, graduated with a BA from Trinity College Dublin and returned to Tullamore which had been partially destroyed after the great balloon fire of that year. He granted new leases in the town and brought about its rapid development. He employed Francis Johnston to design three major landmarks in Tullamore: St Catherine’s Church, the Market House, and the Gothic fairytale castle, Charleville Forest, which was set in 1500 acres of woodland.
In his political career he was returned MP for Kilmallock in 1789-90 and again in 1791-7. He became Baron Tullamore on 26 November 1797, Viscount Charleville on 29 December 1800, and 1st earl of Charleville (of the 2nd creation) 16 February 1806.
He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1803 and a fellow of the Society of Arts in 1814. He published a paper in the RIA’s Transactions in 1799 on the subject of turf ash and became president of the academy from 1812-1822.